Best Chinese Buffet Dinner Plate of 2006?

Buffet plates are always hard to put together. It really requires a combination of planning and restraint. Planning, because your taste buds want everything on the plate to compliment each other. Restraint because there is usually too much food to choose from and this ends up fucking with your plans. Before you know it you've got veal cutlets, chicken chow main, and jello cubes all fighting for space on the plate. If I dare say, I was on my game for this one!



The stir-fried vegetables (with a healthy portion of snowpeas) nestled into a bed of fried rice. Two delicious, crispy chicken fingers resting on the far side. And noodles...

Tsunami? What Tsunami?

Hey,

what the hell happened to the news coverage of the Tsunami in south East Asia? I remember when it happened, and aid workers were warning that the rest of the world will lose interest after a month or two. Did we? A lot of $ was promised by first world governments. And a lot of $ was actually donated by first world residents. The press (as always) had a field day.

So... what happened? Did the governments follow through on the promises? Is the $ getting through to people? Are people in Southeast Asia doing OK? Did anyone actually try and implement a Tsunami warning system?

I haven't seen anything in the press lately. Has anyone heard anything?

Live 8

There's been grumbling in Toronto regarding the upcoming Live 8 concert that will be will be held in the small town of Barrie (about an hour north of Toronto).

I'm the first to admit that it looks a little funny to see Barrie on the same page as London, Paris, and Berlin. But so what? Canada has always been a junior member of the G8. We try and punch above our weight and all, but do we really belong on a list with the likes of the U.S., Russia, Japan, Germany, France, Britain? Uh-uh. We're damn lucky to get an invitation to the dance. So I think it's appropriate that we chose a relatively small, friendly city (with lots of beautiful lakes) for the Live 8 party. What could be more Canadian?

The biggest criticism is regarding the lineup. It sucks! Maybe it just me, but it seems a little weird to organize an event to create awareness regarding the problems in Africa, and not include any African content in the lineup! What it have been so hard to fly in a couple of African bands? I can only imagine the perspective they could have brought the crowd. I guess it reflects our understanding and our approach to the problem (read Naomi Klein's article in the Nation).

Oh well. Two weeks to get a concert of this magnitude together is a daunting task. No doubt. At least somebody is trying!

Adopt A Blog

I have put three posts on this site in about a year. While not exactly prolific, I am aware of how fortunate I am to have the freedom to say what I want. If this right was denied to me I would have a lot more to say about it. But let's be clear, free speech is a right, not some privilege doled out to those deemed worthy by the authorities.

The Chinese government has been co-opting companies such as Microsoft in an attempt to limit dissent by Chinese citizens on the Internet. Shame on them both! How many brilliant ideas are being stifled in China? Hundreds? Thousands? Billions? And what about the typical run of the mill tripe like I produce? Doesn't it deserve to be posted?... Ok, maybe there is an argument for censorship... But never mind that.

This attempt at repression will fail. It must Fail! The Internet was designed to work despite a breakdown in central authority (i.e. Nuclear Armageddon), which makes it pretty tough to control by centralized authorities. Just ask the RIAA. If money hungry record execs can't stop a bunch of teenagers from swapping Britney Spears tunes (Christ!, how hard could that really be) then there is no way in hell that some tight-ass censor can stop an idea.

Already underway is an effort to circumvent the Chinese censors called Adopt a Chinese Blog. And I am down with this!


adoptablog

Inaugural Log

My first weblog! I can harldy contain my excitement....

I'm not sure what I'm going to use this log for. I'm into music, software programming, and politcs. I've only been programming/hacking for about 5 years...not sure I know enough to start posting opinions on the subject. Politics? I definitely have opinions on that....but I dunno, the world is so nasty right now....

Likely music. That's what I like the most. I was thinking of posting a song a day for a year, as a sort excercise to force me to write music more frequently. Then again, that would mean that I would be forcing myself to write every day... Oh well, it's all pretty inconsequential anyhow.